It came to light this morning that the OXS of my van needs replaced and a
trip tomorrow demands that it be done today.  Since I am 1 of 2 Vanagon fools
who my VW parts guy ever sees, he, of course, does not have one on the shelf,
but I do have two other OXS's.  One used (Bosch p/n 13931) and the other
brand new (Bosch p/n 13913).  For the sake of brevity, I'll refer to them as
x31 and x13, respectively.

The new x13 was purchased from the Bus Depot (BD) who offered it as an exact
equivalent of the x31 sans the connector.  The used x31 has about 20 Kmi on
it and it is the exact Bosch replacement for the VW supplied part.

I would like to install the new x13 which leads to my dilemma: Since I have
reason to doubt the veracity* of what comes from the Bus Depot, I hesitate to
use it.  For one thing, the cold resistance's of the heaters of the x13 and
the x31 are different by a factor of 2.  Also, I have no way of comparing the
active characteristics of this unknown, the x13, with the ideal.  Above all
else, Bosch does not list the x13 as a substitute for the x31.

Beyond relying on hearsay and anecdote, is there any authentication for the
use of the Bosch p/n 13913 OXS on a Vanagon 2.1L engine?

*For those of you who bristle at my choice of words, look up their meaning
and go beyond the first definition which you may find before you are
compelled to defend the weak and beleaguered.  Should you still feel cause,
contact me because I have ample documentation and hard goods as evidence to
the veracity of MY words.

George